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Friday, February 17, 2006

Lookin' for dinner in a hurry?

Tonight's recipe for dinner, Peanut Chicken Soba Salad, can be made in a snap and would be great for leftovers during the week as lunches. You could even speed up the prep process by buying a pre-roasted chicken or already shredded meat.

What makes this meal is the sauce the chicken sits in. It may take some looking around to find it, but the roasted peanut oil is so worth it for this dish alone. The sauce has a bit of spice from chili-garlic sauce and some sweetness from honey. Crisp texture from fresh carrots gave a nice contrast paired with the tender buckwheat noodles. I liked using the fresh basil here, I found it to brighten up the flavors quite a bit. The salad is finished off with a sprinkling of crunchy chopped peanuts. I think the salad could take on a few more veggies to stretch the dish like snow peas or edamame. If you don't want to use meat in this dish, some cubed firm tofu would be a great alternative.